The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine

The mystic marriage of the fourth-century martyr, Catherine of Alexandria, to the Christ Child is a symbolic reference to her unwavering devotion to Christianity. Catherine is also depicted in the landscape in the background, standing between two spiked wheels, the instruments of her torture. Although the wheels were miraculously destroyed, she was subsequently imprisoned and beheaded for her faith. Formerly attributed to Bernardino Pintoricchio, it has recently been proposed that the panel is as an important early work by Baldassare Peruzzi.